Another Chinese Car Manufacturer Could Follow BYD to Hungary

By September 30, one of the world’s largest e-car manufacturing and sales companies, China’s SAIC, will decide where to build its first European plant. According to Chinese press reports, although Spain is the most likely destination, the Czech Republic and Hungary are also among the potential sites, Világgazdaság reports.

Press reports suggest that Spain is the most likely to win the investment, with an insider confirming that the Chinese company is currently in talks with the Spanish industry ministry. However, Spain is not the only one, with Hungary and the Czech Republic also on SAIC’s radar.

While low labor costs in the latter countries are an attraction for the Far Eastern company, one of Spain’s advantages is that it is closer to the UK and has more convenient transport links. The UK is SAIC’s most important overseas market, while Spain is also one of SAIC’s key markets in Europe.

SAIC announced in July last year that it was building a manufacturing base in Europe, and started looking for a site.

The manufacturer’s brand MG’s total European sales last year exceeded 230,000 vehicles, with sales of new EVs far outstripping those of local European brands such as Volkswagen, Opel and Renault.

In fact, the company planned to build a plant in Europe because it believed that the EU’s 10 percent import duty on electric vehicles was a barrier to further improving European competitiveness. Then, in June this year, the European Union overrode this when it announced the preliminary results of its investigation into Chinese electric vehicles, imposing the highest provisional duty of 38.1 percent on the SAIC group, that has the highest volume of export sales. SAIC’s official response said it strongly rejected the rulings.

Earlier, there were reports that after BYD, Great Wall Motor might come to Hungary.

BYD decided last December to build its first European plant in Hungary, and then reports immediately surfaced that the next Far Eastern company had already set its sights on Hungary.

However, Great Wall Motor’s investment in Pécs (southwestern Hungary) has never been officially confirmed by the government.

The head of the International Investment Agency, István Joó, said in April, during the visit of the Chinese president, that fake news had appeared in the Hungarian press. However, the assumption was confirmed by several factors: on the one hand, the government itself has consistently said that the next big Chinese company could come to the Pécs area, and on the other hand, in July 2023, it designated a 600-hectare priority investment target area in the immediate vicinity of Pécs, at Bicsérd.

Via Világgazdaság, Featured image: X/Saic Motor